Late to the game? Mother Jones will get you up to speed. The best news reporting on this by far is Al Jazeera, which is a shame because most places in the United States have blacked out al Jazeera TV. But the live stream is here.
Yet Another Reason Why John Bolton Should Shut Up
So you may have heard that former President Bill Clinton went to North Korea today to negotiate the release of two American journalists being held by the North Koreans. Arch-conservative and former U.N. Ambassador under Bush, John Bolton, wrote this morning: Clinton’s Unwise Trip to North Korea […] The point to be made on the Clinton visit is that the knee-jerk … Read More
Avast Ye
American crewmen of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship have taken back control of the vessel from pirates. No word as to whether the pirates are being made to walk the plank. [UPDATE: Hmmmm. Maybe they did have to walk the plank. One pirate was captured; the rest are reportedly "in the water"]
Diplomacy In Action
For those who ever doubted that effective diplomacy cannot lead to results, and that our new president is a skilled diplomat, read this: According to sources inside the room, President Obama just played peacemaker in a spat between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China. In the finaly plenary session among the G-20 … Read More
Kim Il Jong: The Photoshopped Photo
I never have the patience to examine photos for fakeness. Thank God others do. North Korea release a photo of its dear leader, Kim Il Jong, to show the world that rumors of his illness or death are unsubstantiated. The BBC, among others, saw the photo and cried "Photoshop!" Yeah. It looks like they're right. Which only means that … Read More
Since When Is Ignorance A Virtue?
So here’s the latest scandal rocking the Obama campaign…. Last week, Obama said this: Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English — they’ll learn English — you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about, how can your child become bilingual? We should have every child speaking more than one language. You … Read More
The Obama Doctrine
Good article in TAP about "The Obama Doctrine". While both Obama and Clinton appear to be similar on the Iraq War (they both want out), Obama seems to be going the extra mile in arguing that he wants to change the mindset that got us into Iraq in the first place. The article looks at the Obama mindset on foreign … Read More
Cuba And The Candidates
For those who think that all politicians are the same — take a gander on the statements of Obama, Clinton, and McCain on Cuba, now that Castro has resigned. In a nutshell, Obama wants to move toward normalizing relations, starting with allowing Cuban Americans to travel freely to Cuba and send money to their family members back there (Bush disallowed … Read More
Bye Bye Castro
Well, it was to be expected I suppose. Fifty years if a pretty good run. What this means, or should mean, is that we get to visit the lovely island of Cuba (or, if you are JFK, "Cuber"). On this point, I think Steve Clemons is right: Of all the low cost opportunities to demonstrate a new and different US … Read More
The State Department Tries Blog Diplomacy
Something about this strikes me as rather silly. Especially this quote from Duncan MacInnes of State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs: "Because blogging tends to be a very informal, chatty way of working," MacInnes said, "it is actually very dangerous to blog."
Crackdown in Georgia
Youtube has the video as it happened:
Shorter Jonah Goldberg
"America, fuck yeah!" UPDATE: Sorry, I can’t just leave it at that. In this thinly-veiled "liberals hate America" article, Goldberg writes this: The dirty, embarrassing secret is that this sort of multiculturalism has made Europe a wellspring of Islamic radicalism and terrorism, but America’s Muslim community has remained overwhelmingly peaceful. Why? Well, if the answer doesn’t lay in President Bush’s … Read More
Bloggers Defy Myanmar Blackout
Sometimes the best news can be found from the original sources. If you have been following the terrible events In Myanmar in the mainstream media, you might want to check out these bloggers who are in the midst of it. http://soneseayar.blogspot.com/ Mizzima News The Irawaddy Democratic Voice of Burma Justice & Injustice http://mmedwatch.blogspot.com/ http://ko-htike.blogspot.com/ http://mogokmedia.blogspot.com/ Many of these are not … Read More
The Cunning Use Of Flags
So Russia has laid claim to the land underneath the North Pole by submersing themselves down there and planting a flag? Is that how it is done? Planting a flag? That’s so …17th century. Right, Eddie?
Castro Death Watch
I think he’ll last until Thursday.